Mowable sofas invade the UK

The National Trust attempts to lure couch-addicted Brits outdoors this summer with giant grass-covered sofas.

Over the past couple of months I’ve taken a gander at a few sustainable outdoor seating/lounging options ranging from chairs, sofas, and eco-swings and hammocks. However, when it terms to delivering the green it looks like The National Trust, an organization that oversees the conservation of historic homes, gardens, and parks in the UK, can’t be beat.

To encourage Britons get off of their royal bums and spend more time in the great outdoors — a recent survey found that the average British family spends around 43 hours per week indoors, planted on a sofa, even in the summer — The National Trust has constructed a series of “open air sitting rooms” — complete with oversized (one is really big) davenports with accompanying coffee tables — from hay bales covered with “grass blankets” and placed them in outdoor venues around the UK. Good lord, talk about lawn furniture …

In response to the findings, we have have launched a family-friendly compromise to entice sofa-loving Brits outdoors – open-air sitting rooms to encourage families to get outdoors together this summer.

The ‘living’ rooms are made entirely out of natural materials – grass and turf – offering families the chance to experience the British countryside and picturesque gardens from the familiar comfort of a sofa.

It's a fantastic, undeniably photo-worthy concept (I imagine more than a few British families will be using the sofas as props for this year’s holiday card) that I hope gets the attention it deserves — I know how attached folks, at least folks on this side of the pond, can get to central air, gaming systems, and daytime TV. Would the allure of a giant, grass-covered sofa placed outdoors be enough to tear you away from your living room for an afternoon?